


soldier keep on marchin' on

by MageOfCole



Series: Children of Hope and Glory [28]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, CT-7567 | Rex Needs a Hug, Childhood Trauma, Clone Trooper Angst, F/M, Fluff, Force Sensitive CT-7567 | Rex, Genetic Disorders & Abnormalities, Genetic Engineering, Half-Feral Children, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kamino is terrible!!, Mando'a, Mara Jade is Cody's daughter, Mara Jade is Obi-Wan's daughter, Memories, Order 66, Original Child Character(s) - Freeform, Original RexSoka Children, POV CT-7567 | Rex, POV Character of Color, Past Child Abuse, Reunions, clones deserve better, lots of mentioned relationships, off-screen character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23620840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageOfCole/pseuds/MageOfCole
Summary: Rex knows death as intimately as he would a lover - it’s been a constant in his life since the moment he decanted, but he refuses to let it break him. He gets back up like he always does and keeps their memories close to his heart.
Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & CC-4477 | Thire, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-5576-39 | Gregor & CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-5576-39 | Gregor/CC-3636 | Wolffe, CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-21-0408 | Echo/CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-5597 | Jesse & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-6116 | Kix & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex & Original Clone Trooper Character(s), CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Ezra Bridger & The Ghost Crew, Ezra Bridger/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Series: Children of Hope and Glory [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616737
Comments: 22
Kudos: 204





	soldier keep on marchin' on

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title is inspired by Soldier by Fleurie - which I think is a great song to fit Rex!

Rex knows loss.

He knows death and losing those he loves intimately, it’s been a part of his life since the moment he decanted and too many of his batchmates came out with physical mutations. They had been a bad batch made from a bad strand of Fett DNA, and Rex was the only one to live to see the war. Back then, they hadn’t had General Ti to protect them, and those with undesirable mutations were removed almost immediately, to be decommissioned and cut open like a failed science project.

CT-2390 with his luscious golden hair and sparkling blue eyes had been swept away from them almost immediately, they’d barely been together for more than a week before he was taken and never came back. Their sister CT-6775 followed soon after when she insisted a little too loudly in front of a Longneck that she was a living being and not just _a product_ ; she had been too noticeable, she had refused to be quiet when told be silent, too passionate, and it was her decommissioning that taught CT-7567 to keep his head down and his voice to himself.

He had done his best to pass the lesson on to his remaining batchmates, but CT-8855 had always had trouble understanding things; too slow on the uptake, too quick to cry and scream - his mental age had never fully caught up with his physical age, and he had been dragged away kicking and screaming into the night, having to be pried from CT-5522’s grip. CT-5522 had begged and pleaded, telling the Longnecks that Eight would _do better_ , but none of them cared and Eight was gone. They didn’t care that Eight was the sweetest of any of the other _vod’e_ in the facility, they hadn’t cared that he could learn - all they saw was that he took too long.

For a time, it had just been Rex and Rain - CT-7567 and CT-5522 with too pale of hair - but Rain had lost his arm in an accident with a malfunctioning droid. No one had cared that Rain had just saved five squads with his heroic actions, all the scientist saw was a permanently damaged product who would never be able to be fixed. Rex hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye to his last batchmate, and he had known immediately that night that he was the last.

He had learned how to be quiet and follow orders from watching his sister be taken away, but Rain had taught him to be brave.

( _The first time Rex meets his new baby Commander, she’s a small scrappy thing with a heart made of fire and too much reckless bravery running through her blood. She compliments General Skywalker in all the ways that makes Rex feel like his heart is going to leap out of his throat and that his accelerated aging is working overtime. Just watching them exhausts the captain, and he just wants to bundle them off the field and wrap them up in soft blankets - and lock them in a mental ward, but that’s beyond the point - they’re just so bloody_ stupid _together._

 _It’s charming, in the way that two stupid little shinies getting to play with explosives for the first time are until you realize that they’re_ playing with explosives _._

 _Just working with them makes Rex regret all his life choices - mainly the life choices that revolved around letting CC Batch 17 adopt him and push him through training. He blames Cody, because it’s his_ ori’vod _’s fault; it was Cody who saw the talent and skill he hadn’t realized yet, and helped him stand above what the Longnecks thought of the blond haired cadet. He wasn’t just a defective Clone from a defective batch. It was Cody who got him the training he needed to flourish, and inspired him to keep working towards Command training._

_Of course, if he hadn’t Rex would have been long dead before the War even began._

_When he first meets Commander Tano, she’s lanky and still going through puberty, pretty, but_ so very young _\- and it’s her age that Rex sees. She’s too young to be leading on the front lines; talented, ridiculously so, but still a little kid who shouldn’t be fighting. It’s obvious in her recklessness and hard-headedness, she’s still discovering who she is and now has to structure her life around death and war. She can take care of herself, sure, but she shouldn’t have to. He sees CT-6775 in her brashness, CT-2390 in the fragile beauty that could be taken at any moment, Eight in her kindness, and Rain in her bravery._

_She should be back at the Temple, safe and protected and away from the War._

_But she’s not, and Rex swears to himself that she’ll make it through the War, that she’ll live a long and happy life._ )

Losing Ahsoka feels like the loss of a limb, he wants nothing more than to crawl under the blankets that smell less and less like her with every passing day and never come out again. He wants to lock the doors and ignore the knocking of his worried brothers, but he doesn’t.

She’s not dead, he refuses to believe so, not until he sees her body or has passed on himself to find her waiting for him. But he’s still lost her, because she’s not there with him. He wears her armour as a reminder, and as a wish - that maybe, if he continues to wear them, she’ll come back one day and see him wearing them like she had intended for him to do.

Loss has been a constant in Rex’s life, and he refuses to let it break him.

Rex gets back up like he always does.

He gets up, keeps the memories of his _cyar’ika_ close to his heart.

Rex gets up and he continues working towards freeing the galaxy he had sworn to protect. He had been bred to fight, to march into battle - it was a life chosen for him - but this time, he’s made the choice himself. Ahsoka may be gone, but the galaxy still needs someone to fight for it. He chooses to keep fighting, and he mourns the brothers he lost along the way.

Wooley, killed by accident moments away from freedom. He had died in Mara’s arms, but he had died with a smile on his face and was given a hero's funeral surrounded by family.

Gregor went down like the Commandos of old, in a hail of laser fire to save the lives of millions. He had been riddled with dozens of blaster holes when they had dragged him out of the reactor, and he had died proud.

Thire had sacrificed himself to blow up an Imperial ammunition depot to make sure Lothal stayed liberated. There hadn’t been enough left of him to recover afterwards, so they had substituted his body on the pyre with a piece of replacement armour that he had lovingly painted with the maroon of the Coruscant guard.

Three new names to add to his daily remembrances, and it’s almost like a terrible blessing that he’s only lost three brothers in the last few years, but it’s also soured by the knowledge of the millions of _vod’e_ who died enslaved to the Empire.

( _Kix goes missing, and it marks the beginning of the end._

 _Rex barely has the time to come to terms with the fact that the medic that had been with him since the beginning of the War is_ gone _when Order 66 goes live. He hadn’t known the true weight of the existence of the chips until that very moment, still desperately digging for proof beyond just their existence. Cody hadn’t believed him when he told him that there was something fishy about their ‘inhibitor chips’, pointing out the fact that both Tup and Fives had had theirs removed or damaged and had gone crazy, so they must have been needed for_ something _, and_ little gods _does it hurt when his closest brother had brushed aside his concerns._

_So Rex had continued digging._

_But he’s too late, because the hologram of Cody stands before him speaking in a robotic voice that_ isn’t his big brother’s _to_ **_Execute Order Sixty-Six_** _. Rex feels nothing but an ingrained sense of panic when he sees the message, but the men around him stiffen and go still, and it’s only a screaming feeling of wrongness that prompts him to throw himself forward on top of Ahsoka._

_Jesse’s shot goes through where her head had been moments before._

_“What the hells are you doing?!” Rex snaps as his men surround them, lovingly painted orange and white helmets staring back at him blankly, blasters primed and aimed, and Rex makes sure to keep Ahsoka tucked underneath him and out of sight. “Stand down!”_

_“Authorization required to change order parameters.” Jesse’s blank voice drones, void of any of the humorous personality the ARC Trooper is known for._

_“Jesse! I’m ordering you to stand down!”_

_“Invalid authorization.” Jesse says robotically, “Order Sixty-Six will be carried out according to protocol. Traitors to the Republic are to be executed, stand aside Commander CT-7567.”_ )

_The Temple_ lost three inhabitants in the Liberation of Lothal, which brings the total lost to four - five if Wooley, who had never set foot on the ship before his death, is counted.

It’s not a large number compared to the number of Alliance soldiers lost to retake the planet from the Empire, but it’s noticeable in the way that Wolffe seems lost without Gregor following him around to curb the worst of his and Gina’s impulses, and the way Fox has to catch himself from calling out to Thire when he wants to gush about his _ad’ike_. It’s obvious in the way Mara and Luke are always pausing, as if to make room for the third in their trio, before deflating when they remember that Ezra is gone, and how Hera and Kanan cling to the newborn Jacen Syndulla like the little boy will disappear if he’s not with them for too long. The younglings have lost some of their favourite babysitters, and the padawans have lost one of their own.

They’re gone, and everyone is still floundering trying to find what to do with the new holes in their dynamics.

Rex knows that Cody is blaming himself - his brother always did when they lost someone - and the battle for Lothal had been his first active battlefield commands since the Clone Wars. He had planned plenty of stings and attacks on Imperial supply lines, but there hadn't been the need to plan full-out battle tactics since the days he’d been a Marshall Commander. Plenty of the tactics they’d worked together to form during the Clone Wars have been implemented into the Imperial Army, and Rex knows how hard it is to fight his own plans. He’d had to do the same when Echo had been held captive by the Techno Union.

Gregor and Thire are dead, and Ezra is missing.

 _The Temple_ feels empty without them.

( _Rex hasn’t seen Ahsoka since she was seventeen and the world as they had known it had burned around them. They had escaped Mandalore through the skin of their teeth and with the help of Clan Kryze, and they had agreed to go their separate ways; he finds his way to Seelos where he reunites with Gregor, and eventually they’re joined by a dazed and freshly rescued Wolffe who brings them the news that Ahsoka and Jesse had whisked him away from the outpost the Empire had sent him away to._

_It’s just the three of them for years, listening in on the chatter they pick up on the Empire and passing what they can along to the fledgling Rebellion, before they’re brought into the Kenobi family, reuniting with their brother and sister, and getting to meet their niece. From there, their family continues to grow; Rex is reunited with brothers he thought long dead or lost, and he gets to see Ahsoka again._

_She’s grown; no longer the skinny kid he had once known, or the fiery teenager she had been. She’s almost taller than him now, and more lovely than General Ti; she still has the same fire in her eyes, but she’s grown into herself. She’s a woman now, more mature and confident in herself, and for the first time Rex has to come to terms with the fact that she’s no longer a pretty kid, but a beautiful woman._

_A beautiful woman who is interested in him in ways beyond that of a brother-in-arms._

_And he isn’t looking at her as a kid anymore._ )

Half a year after the Liberation of Lothal, Rex is half under a starfighter, elbows deep in wiring and plating as he goes about doing repairs on the beaten X-Wing, listening with half an ear to whatever music Fives has been blasting to keep his little ones entertained while the former ARC Trooper goes about refreshing the starfighter’s paint job - which now includes little handprints courtesy of little Rishi and Domino Torrent, but Rex can’t bring himself to mind. The X-Wing is supposed to be a communal gift to Luke for his upcoming eighteenth birthday anyways, so what’s the harm in letting the _ad’ike_ help? Besides, he can’t say no to the pleading looks he’d get from Fives and Echos’ brats if he stopped them - they learned Tooka eyes from the best, and Rex had never been ashamed of the soft spot for the two Dominos that he’d gotten teased for having by the other officers during the War.

He’s just twisted a wire into place when he hears the proximity alarm go off, alerting the inhabitants of an approaching unknown ship, and Rex pushes himself out from under the starfighter, wiping what grease he can from his hands on his old shirt as he reaches for the towel Echo is offering. The three former 501st Troopers stay quiet for the few moments the alarm rings, before the noise stops, signalling an all clear as the deck crew all begin to hurry around, which Rex knows means that they’ve got a ship coming in that’s been cleared for landing.

And then Rex’s comm pings, and he picks it up, allowing Galen’s hesitant voice to come over. [ _Uh… Uncle Rex? Are you still in the hanger?_ ] Fox’s oldest asks stiltedly, and Rex raises an eyebrow. He’s never heard the boy so nervous before.

“Yes?”

[ _Oh, that’s… good._ ] He laughs awkwardly, [ _Um… We’ve got an incoming shuttle. You - may want to brace yourself._ ]

Rex’s brows furrow, and he shares a questioning glance with Echo and Fives, as the two of them lift Rishi and Domino from the floor. “What’s going on, kid?” There’s a crackle over the comms of control being passed over, before the voice he recognizes as Cody’s comes over the line.

[ _Your_ riduur _is alive,_ vod _._ ] Cody tells him, and Rex’s brain stutters to a standstill, repeating the words over and over again.

_Alive._

_Ahsoka’s alive._

( _“What the seven Sith hells, Rex?!” Ahsoka paces in front of him, hands clenched furiously over her montrails, teal eyes burning. “You didn’t think I’d want to know this ahead of time?!” She throws her hands into the air, then turns to glare at him._

 _“Ahsoka, I swear to you - I thought you_ knew _.”_

 _“Well, I didn’t!” A growl turns into a laugh, that dissolves into angry tears, and Rex leaps forward to press a comforting hand against her back as she breaks down, ignoring the rattling of the various objects that he’s been decorating his quarters with. Ahsoka sags against him, pressing her forehead against his neck and wrapping her arms around him as she shudders, hot tears soaking into his shirt. “Nobody even thought to tell me that -” She swallows audibly, a low mournful trill leaving her throat, “Anakin -_ Skyguy _\- he’s -” Her voice fails her, and Rex drops his cheek to rest between her montrails._

_“Vader.” He finishes the sentence for her, and Ahsoka’s pained moan is heartbreaking._

_“Is it my fault?” She asks quietly, “Because I left?”_

_“_ No _.” Rex kisses the top of her head, “No, ‘Soka, it’s not your fault. Skywalker made his own choices, you can’t blame yourself for it, no more than the rest of us can.” She shivers in his arms, and Rex draws her closer, letting her rest her weight on him, supporting her._

_Ahsoka is quiet for a long moment, “Can I stay here tonight?” Her voice is small, shaken, and Rex agrees immediately._

_She stays the night, and the next one, and every night afterwards - Rex doesn’t mind at all._ )

Rex retreats before the ship lands; he turns and runs, ignoring Fives and Echo calling after him as he makes a mad dash back towards his quarters, not fully aware of his surroundings. All he can hear are Cody’s words rattling around in his brain, and the pounding of his own heart - he’s not sure what’s making him run, but his feet are carrying him away from the hanger and towards his room, ignoring the pain from bumping into corners and walls in his frantic flight away from her.

He crashes into the rooms he shared with his _riduur_ , tumbling to his knees, and he can’t quite bring himself to stand back up. Instead, he curls up where he’s fallen, shaking and breaking out in a cold sweat as he cradles his head in his hands.

 _Gods_ , what is he doing?!

He’s spent over a year, closer to two years, swearing up and down that she was alive, holding onto the hope that she’d come back, and trying to make himself believe it. And now he’s learned that Ahsoka is alive and all he can do is run away and hide. He feels the anger he hadn’t been letting himself feel bubble back up to the surface - the fury he had felt, knowing that Ahsoka had left without telling him and gotten herself killed. But now he knows for sure that she survived, and all that anger he wasn’t letting himself come to terms with is threatening to drown him.

But he’s no longer just angry at Ahsoka, he’s angry at himself now too.

He should be out there, gathering his _riduur_ into his arms and peppering her with kisses, but instead he’s hidden himself away in his rooms, like a _coward_ , unable to face her.

( _“Hey Rexster?” Rex looks up from his datapad to meet Ahsoka’s eyes from where she’s leaning against his legs, her lightsaber repair kit scattered around her, and he raises an eyebrow in invitation for her to voice her thoughts. She grins at him, twisting to kneel in front of him and resting her hands on his knees, eyes sparkling mischievously. “Can I kiss you?”_

 _Rex’s thought process screeches to a stop, and he can only splutter, cheeks reddening. Kriff,_ kriff _, how does he reply to that? And gods, does he want to - he_ really _does. But would it be acceptable? He’s known her since she was fourteen - is it wrong?_

_Ahsoka leans forward, starting to look worried, “Rex, you okay there, buddy? You look like you’re thinking pretty loudly. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”_

_“I- I_ do _.” Rex chokes out, and Ahsoka’s brows furrow._

_“I can sense there’s a but in there somewhere.”_

_“I - I met you when you were still a kid.”_

_Understanding dawns in Ahsoka’s eyes, and a small smile quirks her lips, “Well, do you think I’m attractive now, Rex?”_

_He studies her sharp features and beautiful eyes, and manages to breathe; “_ Yes _.”_

_“I’m flattered, Rexy.” She grins, “And did you think I was attractive when I was a kid? Like in the ‘I want to kiss you and do unspeakable things to you’ kind of way?”_

_Rex jolts, faintly disgusted, “No -_ Siths no _.”_

_“Well,” Ahsoka grins in the way that shows off her sharp fangs, propping her chin on her fist, “There you go - you’re not attracted to kids. And you’re not just attracted to me because you knew me as a teenager.” She pushes herself up so that she’s standing, leaning over him and placing her arms on either side of his shoulders. “So, can I - a grown ass woman - kiss you, Rex?”_

_“_ Yes _.”_ )

Rex isn’t sure how long he stays seated on the floor, just listening to himself breathe through his panic, when he’s jolted back into the present when the door to his quarters hisses open, and a haunting voice speaks up, “Cody told me I could find you here.” Rex flinches, curling into himself even further. He’s unwilling to open his eyes, to turn around and look at her - he’s afraid to do it. Muscular arms wrap around his shoulders, and he feels her press her head against the back of his neck, her warm breath whispering against his skin. “I’m sorry, Rex.” Her voice shakes almost as much as his shoulders do, “I’m so sorry, _ner’alor'ad_. We’re home now.” A kiss is brushed against the back of his neck, “I didn’t mean to be gone for so long.” He shudders, choking back a sob, “ _Please_ , Rex.”

He forces himself to uncurl, straightening, and when she lets go, backing away, Rex feels a moment of panic, eyes snapping open - he doesn’t want her to let go, to _leave_ \- and lunging towards her. His frantic lunge sends both of them crashing to the ground, and for a moment, he just holds her, feeling her warm and alive in his arms.

And then he hears the hissing, moments before two small weights impact against his side, snarling like angry beasts. Rex jerks, throwing himself away from Ahsoka - _gods_ , it’s Ahsoka looking more tired and stressed than he remembers, new lines on her face and montrails and lekku longer than he remembers - as she makes a noise of surprise. Sharp teeth bury themselves in his arm, and Rex’s eyes snap away from his _riduur_ ’s face to the things that had attacked him.

They’re little kids.

Little Togrutan children with nearly non-existent montrail and tiny little lekku with pale blue stripes. One has latched onto his shoulders kicking his back with little feet, brown hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt, while the other clings to his arm, glaring at him with familiar honey brown eyes.

Slim hands pluck both hissing children from his body with the ease of long time practice, tucking the two under an arm each, but they continue to squirm, glaring at him with teal and amber eyes. The two children are nearly identical, androgenous in the way young kids tend to be, one with warm brown skin and the other with a more reddish shade. Their markings are nearly a perfect replica of Ahsoka’s, and Rex can already see the beginnings of a familiar facial shape to his own in their cheeks and eyes - but if his conclusion is correct, these kids are four years older than they _should_ be.

“ _Ahsoka_?” He drags his eyes away from the two children to meet Ahsoka’s teal gaze, and she looks a little nervous, lips pressed together in a thin smile as she struggles with the two squirming children.

“This - isn’t _quite_ how I imagined this going.” She says tightly over the sounds of high-pitched growling, “Five years of planning and it goes like _this_.” Ahsoka drops the kids, but keeps a hold of their hoods, “Jaig, Jakara! _Gev_!” The children still immediately, trilling, and looking up to stare at the woman with visible confusion. “Rex, I want you to meet our children. This is your son, Jaig,” She rests a hand on top of the brown skinned child, who’s teal gaze shifts from his mother to Rex’s face, “And your daughter, Jakara.” The second hand pats the little girl with _his eyes_ atop of her little montrails. “Jaig, Jakara, meet your _Buir_.”

Completely overwhelmed, Rex can only sit on the ground, gaping in shock, as Ahsoka drops back into his lap, dragging their children down with her and folding the two small shapes between them. His arms come up around them after only a moment of hesitation, knotting in the back of Ahsoka’s white robe, before he’s pressing his forehead against Jaig and Jakaras’, feeling Ahsoka pressing her lips to the top of his own head.

“ _Su cuy'gar_ , _ad’ike_.” He whispers past the lump in his throat, “ _Su cuy'gar_ , Ahsoka.”

“We’re home, Rex.” Ahsoka murmurs back, arms locking around his neck, and the two children between them begin to purr. “ _We’re home_.”

**Author's Note:**

> A whole lot of call backs to Part 1! :D
> 
> And this marks the end of PART III! Keep your eyes peeled for PART IV cause that's when Shit Hits The Fan!!!


End file.
